Alec Pierce eyes WR1 role and more targets with next team

Most NFL receivers talk about wanting a bigger role. Ahead of becoming a free agent next week, Alec Pierce has made it clear he's one of them.

Speaking on The Up & Adams Show, the former Indianapolis Colts wideout laid out exactly why he thinks he deserves to become an offensive focal point.

Here's how Pierce made his case to become an WR1 on his next team.

“I had 84” and still hit 1,000

“There's not very many receivers that have got 1000 yards on under 100 targets, and I had 84,” Pierce told Kay Adams.

He’s not wrong. In 2025, Pierce produced 1,003 receiving yards on 84 targets, becoming the only player last season with fewer than 102 targets to crack 1,000 yards.

Pierce boasted the league's best yards per catch mark of 21.3, revealing how most of that damage came the hard way - as a vertical field-stretcher.

And that’s the point. Pierce doesn't consider himself a one-trick pony.

“Double my targets, and I'm setting the record,” he said.

When asked about the possibility of a 2,000-yard season - a mark never surpassed in league history - Pierce didn’t back down.

“That's what the math says,” he responded.

Free agency message: pay me, then feed me

Pierce believes the key is simple: opportunity. If a team commits to him financially in free agency, he expects his volume to reflect that investment.

“The coaches and the front office know they have to back up that contract. I'm no longer going to be an 80-target player,” Pierce said.

He doubled down on that point when discussing his upcoming negotiations.

That’s the line in the sand.

Free agency will reveal the answer. With several high-profile wide receivers testing the market, the size of Pierce's next deal will be telling.

If teams see Pierce as a featured piece, the money and targets will follow. If not, he’s still the kind of downfield problem that can flip the field in a heartbeat.

Either way, Pierce sounds like a guy who’s confident about his own worth.